Columbia Lunch Meeting - “Managing and Leading Millennials”

Millennials grew up with cell phones, laptops, internet access, and a highly socially-networked world that has become increasing smaller. Millennials send over 50 texts per day! They grew up being told they are “special” and as a result tend to be confident, entitled, and sometimes even narcissistic.

50% of millennials consider themselves politically unaffiliated, job satisfaction matters more than monetary compensation, and work-life balance is considered essential.

So, how do we as project managers engage, motivate, and lead millennials? The answers might surprise you.

In this presentation we will first review studies of worker motivation that have been conducted for decades and then use those finding to consider ideas to truly motivate a typical millennial. We’ll discuss how to apply servant leadership principles to embrace young people, help them grow, and exploit their values on morality and ethics in the work place.

Finally, we’ll explain a modern-day management model called Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) that is under experiment by employers such as Best Buy, GAP, and even the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Presenter:

Joseph D. Launi, PMP

Joseph (Joe) D. Launi, PMP is the President of Project Management Experts (PME) which provides project management training to federal and commercial clients. Mr. Launi is a proven project management executive with over 30 years of progressive experience encompassing: project management office (PMO) leadership; development and management of PMO policies, best practices, and methodologies; development and presentation of project management training; implementation of project management software solutions; information technology project and program oversight; and research and development into motivation and morale building programs. He has lead numerous consulting practice areas.

Mr. Launi has published numerous works in areas such as software implementation, project planning, and team motivation. PME specializes in providing organizations with the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to improve their project management competency.